Black History Month serves as a mirror of the prevailing political atmosphere, so how do we revamp it?
We are in Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it feels like it’s time for a reassessment. Throughout its history, an event that was initiated as a celebration and reminder of the past, cultural identity and bonds between Black populations worldwide, has developed a corporate feel, broadening to incorporate events where individuals of African heritage are remunerated to address Caucasian groups about hidden biases and supportive partnership. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests generated a rise in the business of demonstrating racial awareness. But even that moment has passed. The surge has reached its height, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what increasing understanding is for.
The History of Black History Month
First commemorated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with a week of commemoration and observance in the second week of February. Black History Month developed from this campaign and was publicly established in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the US and Canada in the second month, but also in October in the United Kingdom, Deutschland, Éire and the Holland.
The month has developed since that time, focusing less on the histories of transatlantic enslavement and civil rights battles, and more on prominent Black figures in politics, culture, and activism, and extensively acknowledging the input Black people have made to shape the country. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with lectures and artistic activities. But the manner the celebration is observed is a manifestation of the current political situation. How it evolves is a good lesson in how appropriation leads to weakening: the reshaping of Black History Month has hindered the purpose of it, which is to address embedded and established prejudice.
A Disconcerting Period
Little demonstrates how crucial it is to reconsider Black History Month as much as the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the United Kingdom, a resurgent right in the form of the Reform political group is leading the polls. In the recent season we witnessed the biggest extreme right demonstration in the history of Britain. the Conservative leader, the person of color at the helm of the Conservative party, is a staunch adversary of the racial justice movement, and we are in a place where a member of parliament feels empowered to state that the absence of Caucasian individuals in specific city neighborhoods is a reason for concern. Meanwhile, ultra-nationalist movements are expanding in Europe as a entirety.
In the US, a significant offensive against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been brought, frequently with success, to the supreme judicial bodies of the country. A campaign to scrub African American heritage and narrative from the archives is in progress. One of Donald Trump's initial presidential directives targeted the institution dedicated to Black heritage, and the renowned cultural organization, accusing them of a coordinated and broad attempt to change the national past” by depicting the United States “as naturally discriminatory”.
Against this backdrop, the month symbolises how little it can be influential if it is confined to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or depoliticized celebrations of contributions in the past, rather than addressing the realities of the present. It also shows how its short period means that it is detached from the broader ongoing work that is needed. A university professor, a professor at a learning establishment, expressed it perfectly when she raised concerns about the short-term symbolic gestures of the month. “The issue with taking a tokenistic approach”, she commented, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month evolves into a transient display rather than a driver of transformation.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Determining how to alter, change and broaden initiatives for fair treatment and appreciation in such moments of dejection and worry is a treacherous thing. There is a inclination to just do away with things like Black History Month altogether, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are remnants of an period that has failed to deliver.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of campaigns for equality – local anti-racism groups, inclusion and equity efforts, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an framework that a considerable labor has gone into. It is there not merely to decline as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, declines), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month seem? To begin with, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is dispersed across all seasons (as various establishments are already starting to implement), parts of its content (particularly around notable African descendants) included in academic syllabi. It would also be a era that does not evade political issues, and leaves space for citizens, particularly youth, to express their concerns and stories. What value has mere awareness of the history when it ignores the contemporary truth of far-right rallies in the street? Establishments who celebrate it should not be comforted with the passive language of “unconscious bias” and sensitivity to subtle slights, but confronted with the threats that affect everyone if fight against prejudice is not treated with importance. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made current, critical, and adaptive. It could be that an total re-identification is necessary – Contemporary Black History Month.
